Sword Art Online: Darkness
by Insert New Name Here
Summary: Ever since the beginning of Sword Art Online's beta, Yami wished that he could live there instead of the real world. When his wish is granted in the form of SAO becoming a death game, he knows he screwed up. Yami knows that it's his fault that Kayaba Akihiko made SAO that way, all because of something that he said to him once. "I wish this were the real world." (Nonexistent Kirito)


Sword Art Online: Darkness

Chapter One: "I See," Said the Blind Man

* * *

**A/N:**

**Damn, I ended up creating a new fic again… I know, I know, I should be working on one of my other thirty-something ongoing stories, but this kind of just rammed into the inspiration for all of my other stories like a drunk driver driving a semi full of gasoline. In other words, I had to finish this before working on anything else.**

**This was originally meant to be a rewrite of **_**The Shadow of the Starless Night**_**, but the plot kind of evolved from there. Instead of an entire cast of OCs, I decided to only keep Yami, make him the main character, make the rest of the cast canon characters, make Kirito nonexistent, and completely change just about everything else, including various aspects of Yami's character.**

**I made the combat system similar to that of the story I mentioned above, albeit with a few modifications. You'll see what I mean if you actually decide to read on.**

**Well, I guess that's it! See you at the bottom!**

* * *

A razor-sharp silver sword cut the tip of my shoulder, sending a tiny jolt of pain through my body. It didn't faze me, though; I had long since grown accustomed to experiencing such sensations.

The thin, blue line at the top left corner of my vision shortened slightly, bringing with it a brief sense of fear. This blue line, known as the «HP Bar», was a visual representation of my life force. Upon a close inspection, I noted that I had just over ninety percent left. No, that's not right. That phrase doesn't capture the situation well enough.

I was about ten percent closer to death.

Immediately after my opponent finished its strike, I retaliated with my left sword, slashing horizontally through its midsection and severing it in two. The two pieces of demon before me exploded into blue light, blinding me for a moment before it dispersed into polygons of all shapes and sizes.

Four down, one to go. I had intentionally activated a trap, knowing that in doing so, I would be able to level up. I had already been close, and all I needed to do so was to slay a few powerful monsters.

"Hah…" I forced myself to take a steady breath as I backed away from the last demon slowly. In this world, the calmer you are, the faster your «HP Bar» replenishes.

My body in this world didn't need air, but on the other side, my body would surely have been breathing heavily. My limp hands would have been soaked with sweat, and my heart rate would have been off the charts, showing outwardly what I currently felt on the inside.

But that's to be expected.

Even though what I saw was merely a rendering of a 3D virtual reality, and the blue line being shortened was just a bunch of dots with numbers that showed my HP, the fact that I was fighting for my life didn't change.

_When I think about it that way, it seems completely unfair._

My opponent standing before me, a seasonal mob known as the «Winter Demon», was a humanoid being with white scaly skin and white horns, and it held an unnamed one-handed curved sword in its right hand. Despite its body structure, it was neither human, nor alive. It was nothing more than a lump of complex data that would be replaced no matter how many times it was destroyed.

… No, that's not quite right.

The artificial intelligence unit that controlled the «Winter Demon» had been studying my movements and improving its ability to respond to them with every second that passed. Even so, once this monster was destroyed, the data would not be passed on to the monster that spawned in its place. So, in a sense, this demon was alive, a single creature unique to this world.

"… Right…?"

There was no way the level seventy-seven «Winter Demon» could've understood what I said, and yet somehow… it smiled, showing the large, white fangs that protruded from its very large mouth.

_This is reality. Everything in this world is real. This isn't fake at all._

"REAAAGH!" With a devastating roar, the «Winter Demon» leapt into the air, putting its blade in the position to activate a high-class curved sword skill known as «Fell Crescent», which covered a very large distance in less than half a second.

I turned around, running away from the demon with incredible speed. But was I really just running like a coward? No, not even close. I tricked it into activating this skill, and now it would pay the price.

I heard a sound akin to a jet engine, and when the smell of fire registered in my senses, I immediately knew that it had unleashed its skill. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the «Winter Demon» swiftly closed the distance between us, its orange-glowing sword propelling it towards me like a rocket. It was fast, really fast, incredibly fast, even.

But I was faster.

Mere milliseconds before its shining blade made contact with the small of my back, I turned around, using the momentum of the spin to propel me to the side and out of the way of the attack. The werewolf continued to careen past me, its skill ensuring that it would keep going for at least another three meters unless it was stopped.

And that's just what I did. Before the demon could get even half a meter past me, I stabbed it mid-back with my right sword, immediately putting a stop to its skill and making its curved sword lose its shine. I wasted no time in dragging my blade up through its head, then reversing its trajectory and cutting the beast vertically in half.

Like their predecessors, the two halves of the once-powerful «Winter Demon» exploded into blue light that soon formed into innumerable polygons. I looked around, scanning the area for any more of the white-scaled monsters. When I found none, I looked down to the window that popped up below me.

* * *

_Congratulations!_

_You leveled up to level 93!_

* * *

Waving the window closed, I turned my attention to the road ahead of me.

_Time to move on._

Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, I began to feel my head throbbing dully, and I finally took notice of the sweat all over my body, making my clothes stick to my skin. Regardless, I didn't feel physically tired at all. I wasn't even panting after all that fighting.

_It's an odd sensation, really._

I sheathed my two swords in my long, black coat using its special effect, «Weapon Conceal», proceeding to wipe the sweat from my aching temples before it could get into my eyes and obscure my vision.

Somehow, I had evaded the icy hands of death yet again. In a few hours, I would probably push my luck even further, possibly even too far.

_That's right… no matter how strong I am, no matter how many safety nets I prepare, the fact that I fight alone in dangerous areas pretty much guarantees that I'll end up falling out of Lady Luck's favor one day… and then I'll die._

With those gruesome thoughts in mind, I began walking onward, determined to make it to the next city. I wouldn't stop; there's no way I could ever stop until I either beat this world… or died trying. But I chose not to think about the latter possibility too often.

As I walked, I noticed something small and white fall from the sky, onto the ground of the cold forest floor. Then another… then another… until the entire morning sky was filled with the small, white crystalline structures.

"This is the first snow of the winter season…" I said to myself. "It kinda reminds me of the day over a year ago, when this death game began."

* * *

I awoke to the sound of a phone ringing right next to my ear, nearly deafening me. I groggily pulled my left arm up to my face, finding and pressing a button on my special watch. It instantly sent a signal to my ear buds, which had been plugged into said watch. The signal transformed into a string of syllables, informing me of the time.

_12:30 PM_

_Who the hell could be calling me right now?_ I thought, putting my head back down. However, I soon remembered that the particular noise coming from my phone at that moment hadn't been assigned to any of my contacts. It was an alarm. I fumbled around for my phone, not even bothering to open my eyes to look.

_After all, what's the point of opening your eyes to look for something if you can't see?_

After a few seconds of unsuccessful searching with my hands, the noise suddenly stopped. I scowled, turning my head up and to the left, where I heard the sound of a beep, signifying that someone had turned off my phone's alarm. "You didn't have to do that, Hikari. I would've found it eventually."

I felt the weight of my bed shift to accommodate my visitor as he sat beside me. "You know, brother," he said, his voice sounding sympathetic. "You don't have to do everything yourself."

"But I don't need everything done for me, either," I countered, the scowl on my features intensifying ever so slightly. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, I softened my expression. "But that's enough about that. What did you come to my room for? And why am I still in bed at half-past noon on a Tuesday?"

"Oh, that's right!" my brother nearly shouted, half-deafening my hypersensitive ears for a moment. "We have the day off today because of how hard it snowed last night, remember?"

"And why the hell did I set an alarm so early on a day off?" I muttered, more to myself than Hikari. Thus, I wasn't expecting his next remark.

"You really forgot, didn't you?" he queried after grumbling something like, 'half-past noon is nowhere near early' to himself. "Today is the day of the official launch of Sword Art Online."

At this realization, my mind began racing. _I'll finally get to go back today!_ I shouted in my mind, remembering everything about the game all at once.

Sword Art Online, the game that could allow people like me to regain their sight. Because I was blind, I, along with many other disabled teens, had been selected for testing of the Nerve Gear before SAO came out, and it was proven through this that the hardware was capable of going past the physical disabilities people may have, tapping into their very soul to allow them to regain their lost senses. It also proved able to tap into the user's true reflexes, allowing for better movement for kids that had disabilities of that sort.

Among the one-thousand disabled kids across Japan that got to test the Nerve Gear, exactly ten, including myself, were told to log onto a private server one afternoon near the end of the testing period. I recognized them from the physical tests; they were some of the top scorers, just as I was. Even so, who knew what kind of disabilities they had in real life? They could be anything from cripples to cancer patients, and sometimes I felt the need to slap myself in the face to remind myself that not everyone in the tests was there for blindness. But I digress.

When all ten of us were logged on, two people appeared before us. One of them was the physical instructor for the advanced kids such as myself, and one of them was a man I had never seen before. He had a gentle, yet commanding aura, one that made me like him instantly.

Our teacher introduced him as Kayaba Akihiko, the one who created the Nerve Gear that allowed us to be normal for the time we had been in virtual reality. Then, the big man himself began speaking in a calm, collected tone.

He told us that we were the best of all of the kids in the VR tests when it came to physical prowess, and that each of us had a different impairment. He then went on to say that he had a proposition for all of us. He wanted us to participate in the beta test for his new Virtual Reality MMORPG, and if we liked it, we could preorder copies of the official release. The name of the game?

Sword Art Online.

It goes without saying that each one of us readily accepted. If it got us the chance to be in Virtual Reality, with no impairments whatsoever, for even longer, then there was no way any of us would refuse.

He told us that he would mail copies of the beta to each of our houses, and that the beta would start in just two weeks. He then said that he would send us to a private area when we first logged on so that he could explain the basics of play to us, and then we would be free to explore the world of Aincrad with the rest of the thousand testers. With that, he bade us farewell, telling us that he would see us in two weeks.

After two long, grueling weeks of time in between the end of the VR tests and the start of the beta, I was just about ready to pull my hair out. But then, the beta started, and all my troubles were ver. Needless to say, all ten of us logged on not five minutes after the beta officially began.

True to his word, Kayaba Akihiko rerouted us into a private server so that he could teach us the basics of the gameplay. The server looked like a cross between a medieval city and a modern town, with cobblestone streets and stalls that hosted various items, from potions to weapons of all kinds.

Kayaba himself appeared before us, though I barely recognized him due to the red leather armor he wore in place of his usual white lab coat. He started off by telling us to look around the stalls for any weapons we wished to buy. He told us that in this private server, all of the weapons were free, but that our items would be reset when we arrived in the regular beta server.

I almost immediately set out in search of a weapon that appealed to me. After several minutes of searching, after everyone else had already picked something for themselves, I stumbled across two weapons that drew me in, both being different one-handed straight swords. Almost immediately, I asked Kayaba if I could wield two weapons at once.

He replied by explaining that I could, but there were no Sword Skills for that kind of choice. I would be able to use single-handed Sword Skills with each sword, but there were no skills that would use both weapons at once.

I told him that I would manage, to which he responded by saying that if I was okay with it, then he didn't see a reason not to let me. As soon as I had bought both swords that I had been ogling, everyone made their way outside the city.

When we reached a field filled with giant boar-like creatures, Kayaba stopped, prompting all of us to stop as well. He told us that we would be fighting these boars for a few hours to get the hang of the combat system, and after he showed us how to open the menu and equip Sword Skills to be used in combat, he let us loose.

In the two hours that he let us train, one of the other kids and I formed a large gap between us and the others in terms of skill. We got the hang of using the basic Sword Skills within the first fifteen minutes, and after that, we began using our own skill and speed to dispatch of the lowly boars in the area.

When all of the mobs in the area had been killed, we both sat down next to each other, panting furiously. I realized that I had never bothered to learn her name in the physical tests before the beta, even though her score in reaction time was almost as good as my own. So I asked her for her name, though I meant her in-game name.

She told me her real name instead, not knowing what I meant. When I told her that I meant her in-game name, she told me that it was the same as her first name. At this, I face-palmed.

After the two hours of training had gone by, all of us had gotten used to the combat system of SAO fairly well. The next thing Kayaba did was show us the ins and outs of the menu, which we had thus far only used to equip our weapons and Sword Skills. That was easy enough for all of us, so after another twenty minutes, he deemed us ready to join the regular testers.

Before we all teleported out of the private server, we all introduced ourselves to each other, as most of us never bothered to earn each other's names during the VR testing period. After that, we left the server for good, with a smiling Kayaba Akihiko bidding us farewell.

The next two months went by in a flash. The other girl and I quickly asserted ourselves as the two top players, and when we met again, this time with our avatars that we created when we first logged into the public server, we knew there was only one thing left to do.

Fight.

And so, we challenged each other to a duel. Of course, I won, but just barely. Her reaction time was almost as fast as mine, and her skill with one sword was equivalent to my own with two. After the fight, we decided to clear floors together.

When the beta finally ended, we promised to meet each other once more in the official release of SAO.

* * *

The sound of my brother nearly shouting in my ear snapped me out of my memories. "Wake up!"

"Damn, you're loud," I responded, glaring in the direction of his voice. "You didn't have to yell."

"You fell asleep," Hikari replied, scaring me to the core. "Don't worry, you still have two minutes until SAO launches."

"Can you help me set up?" I quickly requested, giving what I assumed was a pleading look.

"Who was the one who said he didn't need everything done for him?" he queried smugly, flicking my forehead.

_Karma's being a total bitch right now…_

"Look, I'm sorry," I swallowed my pride and said through grit teeth. "Just please help me. I have to meet up with someone in-game."

I could hear him reaching under my bed for the Nerve Gear, so I knew he had relented already. Still, his smug reply made me choke. "Oh? Going to meet up with your girlfriend?"

My hand made its way to my face as I grumbled something akin to 'asshole,' laying back down on my bed in wait for him to get the Nerve Gear. "She's just a friend," I calmly denied after several seconds of pause.

"Sure," Hikari replied in a sarcastic tone. "That totally explains why you always told me everything you learned about her whenever you went offline, and also why you say her name in your sleep before I wake you up to go to school."

Before I could yell at him, he placed the Nerve Gear on my chest, quelling any rage I may have directed towards him in an instant. I picked it up, sliding it onto my head as I heard my brother plug its cord into the wall by my bed.

"I'll give you a countdown," Hikari offered, beginning as soon as I nodded my head in approval. "Thirty-three, thirty-two, thirty-one…"

_I'm finally going to meet her again, aren't I?_ I thought, a smile tugging at my lips.

"Twenty, nineteen…"

_I hope we find each other right off the bat!_

"Two, one—"

The second my brother said 'one,' I cut him off with the words I had been longing to say for two grueling months.

"Link start!"

Suddenly, my vision turned white, a stark contrast with the black void I always saw in the real world. Lines of all colors streaked across my field of vision until they were all behind me. Then, circles with the English words for the five senses came up into my field of vision one by one, confirming that I could use the senses in the game. The sight icon lingered for a little while, having to dig just a little deeper to find my true sense. Once they were all finished confirming, they scrolled off the screen, and a language bar appeared.

I confirmed the play language as Japanese, and a login screen appeared. I mentally entered my username and password, causing another window to appear.

* * *

_Character Creation_

_Your beta test data is still available._

_Would you like to use it?_

_Yami (M)_

_Yes/No_

* * *

I mentally touched the yes button, and then then a gray screen appeared with the English words, "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" in the middle. My vision moved past this screen, and pillars of blue light that formed a tunnel made their way past me. Then, the blue lights turned into polygons that scattered, revealing the bright blue "sky" of the first floor.

I looked around at the hundreds of players in the «Plaza» of the «Town of Beginnings» that had arrived before me, watching for a moment as even more appeared in flashes of blue light. When I looked down, I clenched my right fist, watching the virtual muscles of my avatar tense as I did so.

_I'm really back…_ I thought, a wide smile coming across my features. I couldn't contain my excitement anymore, and so I said, "Hello, world! Did you miss me?"

Rushing through the streets of the «Town of Beginnings» after having bought two one-handed straight swords using all of my money, I had almost reached the meeting place where I was supposed to find my friend when I felt a hand grip the blue sleeve of my avatar's shirt.

I turned around, coming face-to-face with a teen with light red hair that draped over his shoulders, with a large, dark red headband blocking his bangs from falling over his eyes. His avatar's body structure was about level with mine in height, and his muscles were realistically proportioned, unlike a lot of the male players, who chose to make their avatars' muscles bigger than normal.

"You need something?" I queried, giving what I hoped was a nice smile.

"You look like you know where you're going," he replied, letting go of my sleeve. "You're from the beta, right?"

"Well, yeah…" I said, though it sounded more like a question.

"Would you mind helping me out?" the player requested. "It's my first day, so I'm a total newb at this. I was hoping you could give me some tips on the lower floors. You know, to help me get started."

"I dunno, man…" I finally said, looking at him apologetically. "I'm meeting up with someone…"

"Oh, sorry," the player said sadly. For some reason, his tone made me want to help him anyway.

"You know what? Why don't you come and grind with us?" I proposed, still unsure as to why I even bothered. "We can teach you the basics, then we'll all hunt mobs together."

The player's face brightened, and a jubilant smile found its way onto it. "Really?"

"There you go again, making plans for us without even bothering to tell me beforehand."

Was what I heard coming from behind me. The «Nerve Gear» didn't change voices unless you switched genders for your avatar, so I instantly knew who it was. When I turned around, my suspicions were confirmed. The very person whom I had promised to meet stood before us, her piercing magenta eyes searching my nervous gaze for answers.

Her long, violet hair swayed in the system-simulated wind as she looked from me to the redhead behind me. She tried her best to look intimidating, but the fact that she was considerably shorter than us made it very hard.

Just as I was about to say something, her disapproving glare made way for a laid-back smile. "Well, whatever. Let's start with introductions before we go to grind, though. I'm Yuuki. I was friends with him in the beta," she said, pointing to me.

"I'm Klein," the redhead said. "Nice to meet you both!"

I smiled, glad that everything worked out. "I'm Yami."

* * *

«West Plains»

"Agh!" Klein shouted, flying back onto his posterior before grasping his groin in what he thought was pain. But of course, SAO has pain absorbers, so feeling pain is really an impossibility. He was just overreacting, and both Yuuki and I knew it.

His attacker was a level one pig-type mob called the «Boar», and it had the lowest HP of all mobs in the game. It also had the lowest attack and defense stats in the game, which only made it even sadder that Klein's HP bar had dipped into the yellow due to the pitiful mob.

"Congrats, man," Yuuki said, voice dripping with sarcasm and a hint of amusement. "You were defeated by the weakest mob in the game."

Choosing to let Yuuki's snide comment go for the moment, I told him, "Come on, you can't feel pain. SAO has built-in pain absorbers that keep that from happening."

Klein stopped grabbing his groin, his eyes opening with a, 'I'm such an idiot' look in them. "Sorry… I guess it's just a habit."

Yuuki piped up again with another amused yet snarky comment. "So you get hit in the balls in real life enough for it to become a habit?"

"No, I just— never mind…" Klein said, sighing in frustration.

At this, I couldn't help but chuckle, though I hid it well. "All right, Klein," I said, smiling at his face, which had the expression of, 'please don't gang up on me!' "It's time to teach you some basics."

At this, he sighed in relief, looking at me gratefully. I only smiled back.

"All right, here goes," I said, scouring the ground for something to use as an example. When I found a pebble about a meter away, I walked over and grabbed it. "Okay, the most important part of battle in SAO is your initial motion input."

"What do you mean?" Klein queried, a confused look on his face.

"Allow me to demonstrate," I said, standing up with the pebble in my grip. I tossed it into the air for a brief moment, then caught it and put my arm over my shoulder. The pebble began to glow with a bright red color as I continued with my explanation. "If you get your initial motion input right, you can activate a «Sword Skill». And when that happens…"

I launched the pebble from my grip, making sure to aim slightly to the left of the «Boar» before me to illustrate my point. It flew through the air, its trajectory curving to meet up with the «Boar's» posterior.

"The system pretty much guarantees a clean hit on your target."

Klein looked ahead with a contemplative look. "Initial… motion input?"

I could sense that he was starting to understand, so I gave him the final hint. "Here's an easier way to look at it," I said, swiftly dodging a charge from the «Boar» as I spoke. "When you start the initial move for a skill, wait for a bit."

The «Boar» Charged again. This time, I drew my right sword and blocked its reckless attack. "When you feel the skill start to activate, let it explode!"

"Let it explode…?" Klein mumbled. Then, a look of understanding dawned on his face. He spread his legs apart and put his one-handed curved sword over his shoulder, preparing to activate a high-speed dash-type skill known as «Reaver».

I smiled, knowing that he would be able to finish off the mob with that particular skill. And so, I hit the boar upwards with the flat of my sword, then kicked it in the rear to make it run in Klein's direction.

About a second later, Klein's skill finished charging. He realized this, then brought his curved sword down in front of him, releasing the skill. It sent him gliding through the air towards the «Boar», the blade tearing through its side.

Klein stopped about a meter past the low-level mob, his skill having finished. As soon as he turned around, the sound of shattering glass could be heard as the «Boar» was sent back to the «Cardinal System» to await its inevitable respawn.

Klein's face donned a smile, and soon, he erupted into a loud cheer. "All right!"

"Congrats on your first kill, man," I said, walking over to him. I raised my hand, and he met it in a high-five. Then, I burst his bubble with, "But, like Yuuki said earlier, that «Boar» is the weakest mob in the entire game."

Klein frowned for a moment, then quickly recovered. "Yeah, but this is still so awesome! The feeling that went through my body when I used that «Sword Skill»… it was amazing! I felt so powerful!"

I looked at him with a smile. "I know the feeling," I told him, putting my right sword level with my head and parallel to the ground with the end of the blade pointing forward. Another «Boar» had spawned nearby just seconds before, and I intended to use a «Sword Skill» for the first time in months.

My blade began to glow with a blue light, and as it charged, I ran towards the nearest «Boar». Once I was within range to hit it, I released my skill, «Rage Spike», letting it propel me towards the trash mob like a speeding bullet.

When it made contact, my sword stabbed through the «Boar's» head, making it disperse into blue light before it turned into hundreds of polygons that floated away in the virtual wind.

"That was awesome!" Klein shouted jubilantly as I walked back over to them. "What skill is that?"

"It's a one-handed dash-type skill called «Rage Spike»," I explained, smiling a bit as I sat down on the grass. "It's weak, but it's enough to take down a «Boar» in one hit."

"Ah," he replied, sitting down to my right. Yuuki sat down on my other side, before Klein spoke up once more. "By the way, why do you use two swords? Aren't there no skills for two-weapon builds?"

"Well, back in the beta, there were two swords that I wanted when I first got there," I informed him, beginning to reminisce about my first little while in SAO's beta. "I decided to get both, and I eventually got to be a pro at using two swords at once. I even figured out a few tricks to make chaining «Sword Skills» much easier."

"And what would that be?" Yuuki queried, giving me a curious look. I then remembered that I hadn't used it in front of her in the beta, and I mentally face-palmed at my mistake.

"Secret," I replied smugly, hiding the nervousness I felt. I then got up, turning towards the next map. "Anyway, what do you guys say we hunt some more?"

"Hell yeah!" Klein cheered, getting up in a flash.

With that, we left for a better training ground.

* * *

«West Edge»

At around five o'clock, the three of us were just sitting on a hill, watching the system-simulated sunset. I looked at it with awe, as I always did when I saw it. After all, I couldn't see anything in the real world.

_I almost wish that I could _live_ here, in the virtual world._

"No matter how much I look at all of this, I can't believe it's just a game," Klein said wistfully, looking at the sunset with a smile. "The creator's gotta be a total genius! Sure makes me glad I was born in this time."

"You make such a big deal out of everything," Yuuki teased, looking at him with a smug smile.

Before Klein could retort, I interrupted him with, "I, for one, am with Klein on this one. I feel even more alive here than I ever did in the real world. Every time I used the «Full Dive» technology, I was hooked all over again. With today being the first time in months that I've used it, I feel _ten times_ more amazed at the wonders of SAO than before."

"Wow, you're really into this, huh?" Klein asked me with a smile.

I grinned back at him, giving him a thumbs-up. "Well, yeah. After all, in this world, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. Or in my case, two blades."

"By the way, how far did you guys make it in the beta?" Klein asked us, a curious look coming across his features.

Yuuki was the one to respond this time. She turned to the redhead, saying, "During the two months of testing, the best of us made it to floor ten. But this time…" Yuuki clenched her right hand into a fist. "I can guarantee you that it'll only take a single month."

"Man, you two are really hardcore gamers, aren't you?" Klein asked us, closing his eyes and smiling.

"To be honest, during the beta test period, SAO was all I could think about, day and night," my violet-haired friend said, looking at me for some reason. "Though really, I thought a bit more about seeing Yami here every day than I did about logging into SAO."

At her comment, I quite literally choked on my own spit. She rushed over to me, patting my back as I coughed violently. "I was just kidding," she said frantically, trying her best to calm me down. "Are you okay?"

_It figures that she would about something like that…_

Once my breathing finally returned to normal, I found myself telling them I was fine, though I was clearly not. After confirming that, at the very least, I wouldn't choke again, they finally let me be.

"Anyway, what say we hunt some more?" I proposed, standing up slowly.

Klein stood up, along with Yuuki, before he said, "I'd love to! But…" his stomach cut him off, growling ferociously. "I'm really hungry."

Yuuki giggled, watching him grab his stomach to emphasize his point. I closed my eyes, smirking, then said, "Well, can't help you there. Eating food in this world only makes you think you're not hungry on the other side."

Klein gave a goofy smile and a thumbs up. "There's no way I could come this far and just eat leftovers in the fridge! No, I ordered a pizza and two-liter of soda to come at five-thirty PM!"

"Well, you're certainly well-prepared," I said with a smug look.

Klein completely missed the sarcasm in my statement, however. "Totally!" he shouted jubilantly.

"That reminds me, I have to log out, too," Yuuki said, giving me an apologetic look. "I'm going to go see my older sister."

"I… I see," I replied, looking down. "Hey, why don't the three of us meet back up later tonight?"

"Well, I'm meeting up with some friends from another game," Klein said. "But if you guys want, I could introduce you. You can friend them, too!"

Yuuki looked down, and so did I. Neither of us were used to being in larger parties, since it had been just the two of us for the latter half of the beta. Before that, we were both solo players, so we wouldn't be comfortable in a large party.

Sensing our discomfort, Klein quickly said, "Of course, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'll just introduce you some other time."

"Yeah, sorry," I softly said. "But thanks for the offer."

"Hey, don't you go thanking me!" Klein said cheerfully. "I should be the one thanking you guys! You're both amazing! I promise I'll repay you both… someday."

He then walked backwards, presumably to log out. "Seriously, though. Thanks so much, guys. I'll see you two around."

I smiled warmly, putting out my hand. "If you ever have any questions, just message one of us. We'll be happy to help you out."

Yuuki nodded in agreement, and Klein took my hand, shaking it. "Will do!"

He let go, then opened up his menu, making the motions to log out. A few seconds later, I heard Klein say something that made my blood run cold.

"Hey guys, total newb question, but is there another way to log out? The button is missing."

Sure enough, when I looked at my main menu, the logout button wasn't even there.

Yuuki looked at him quizzically. "You sure? It should be at the bottom of the main menu."

"No, he's right," I confirmed, voice darkening slightly. "I'm seeing the same thing. I'll contact a GM and see what's up."

"Good idea," Yuuki said as she went into her own menu.

"Well, it is the first day out of the beta, so there are bound to be some bugs. Man, the server people must be freaking out right about now!" Klein said smugly, stroking his chin as if his avatar had a beard.

"You will, too," I informed him. "Right now, the time is five twenty-five PM. Wasn't your pizza set to arrive at five-thirty?"

Klein stood in silence for all of three seconds. Of course, this didn't last long, and he immediately transitioned into yelling, "My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!"

Ignoring Klein's outburst, Yuuki turned to me. "Any response from a GM?"

I hadn't heard a word from a GM since I called.

"No…" I stated, a dark look appearing on my face. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

"No big deal, I'll just pull the «Nerve Gear» off!" Klein said, clearly so desperate that he couldn't think straight.

Before he could try, I interrupted. "Don't bother. The «Nerve Gear» intercepts all the signals that your brain sends to your body so that you don't move around while you play."

"Then we have no choice… but to wait for someone to fix the bug?" Klein queried, his voice almost in hysterics.

_I don't think it's a bug… something's wrong here._

"Yeah, that just about sums it up. Think of it on another note, though," I said, beginning to explain my theory. "If the game doesn't even _have_ a logout button, then it couldn't just be a normal glitch. If the text of the logout button was warped or something, and _then_ we couldn't get out, then that would be a typical first-release bug."

It seemed that even Yuuki couldn't comprehend what I was saying. "What do you mean?" she queried fearfully, giving me a worried look.

_Isn't it obvious?_

"I'm saying that someone must've hacked the server and removed the button."

"But that's impossible!" Yuuki shouted, making Klein's eyes widen. "SAO is un-hackable!"

"It's true that SAO's servers are incredibly hard to crack, maybe even impossible… which means…" I said, putting my left hand over my eye, a motion I often performed while contemplating something. "If my guess about someone removing the logout button is correct, then it must have been someone on the inside."

The looks on my friends' faces said all I needed to know; Yuuki looked like she wanted to strangle me for even thinking of such a possibility, and Klein just looked plain terrified. But between both of them, one thing remained the same…

The glint of fear in their eyes.

Not a moment later, I heard the sound of a bell tolling in the distance. It took a mere half a second for me to realize which bell had gone off.

"That's the bell in the «Plaza» at the «Town of Beginnings»!" I shouted, catching both Klein and Yuuki by surprise. "But that only sounds when—"

I was cut off by a blue light surrounding me. When I looked to Klein and Yuuki, I found that they, too, were being engulfed by the blue light. _A forced teleport?_ I asked myself, even though I already knew it was the case.

When the blue light subsided, I found myself back in the «Plaza» of the «Town of Beginnings», near the center. I looked around, finding Klein and Yuuki standing on either side of me, along with several other players. Even more continued to appear in flashes of blue light, and when it seemed as if every player had arrived, before…

"Hey, up there!" a player close by shouted, pointing to the sky just in front of the virtual sunset. Where he pointed, a red hexagon flashed in the sky. I squinted to see what it said, and when I saw, my blood ran cold.

* * *

«WARNING»

* * *

_No way…_

Then, another hexagon appeared on top of the original, this one saying «System Announcement». Then another below the original, then one to the left, then one to the right, until the entire sky was filled with red hexagons, all saying «WARNING» or «System Announcement».

_What the hell is going on?!_

Just as I thought it couldn't get any weirder, red liquid began oozing from in between the hexagons in the sky. When the liquid reached about ten meters from the ground, it stopped falling, piling up onto itself as even more of it seeped through the cracks. Blue electricity began to pulsate around the forming liquid.

"What the hell?" Klein whispered from my right. I looked over to him for only a second, but when I looked back up at the sky…

An illustrious, crimson cloak floated in the air, with no body inside it to speak of. It had white gloves in its sleeves, which looked as if there were invisible hands inside of them.

"Is that a GM?"

"Why doesn't it have a face?"

"What's going on? Is this an event?"

These were but a few of the things I heard all around us. Many more tried to guess what was going on, or who this thing represented, but it was already all too clear to me.

_This is the hacker… the one who removed the logout button._

The robe started to speak in a very deep voice that resounded through the entire area. _"Attention, players… I welcome you… to my world."_

_What?!_

"My… world?" Yuuki repeated from his spot next to me.

"_My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment, I am the sole person that can control this world."_

_Then that means…_

Images of the mild-mannered man in a white lab coat flashed through my mind. As they did, I analyzed every part of his body, from his expression to the position his body was in, trying to find any sign of someone who would do this.

I found none.

_There's no way! He couldn't be the hacker!_

As soon as I finished my thought, the robe continued. _"I assume that most of you have already noticed the missing button from the menu. The logout button."_

As if the illustrate his point, he opened his own menu, even though we couldn't see it. He continued with, _"However, I can assure you this. This is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. The inability to log out…_

"_This i__s a feature of Sword Art Online."_

"A-a feature?" Klein whispered in shock.

_No… this can't be happening!_

"_You will not be able to log out on your own, and no one on the outside will be able to shut down or remove the «Nerve Gear». Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the «Nerve Gear» will emit a powerful blast of microwave radiation, destroying your brain…_

"_And ending your life."_

Klein looked over at me with a disbelieving expression. "He can't be serious. There's no way it could—"

"He's right," I refuted Klein's statement, looking over at him with a dark expression. "The «Nerve Gear's» transmitters work just like a microwave. If the safety were disabled…"

When I stopped, almost afraid to continue, Yuuki finished for me. "It could fry your brain. He's not lying, I can tell."

Klein stepped back a little, too shocked to speak. And so, I continued to explain. "And we couldn't cut the power, either. The «Nerve Gear» has an internal battery. It's supposed to last for three days of playtime."

_"__Unfortunately, the friends and family members of several players have disregarded this warning. They have attempted to remove the «Nerve Gear», and have faced the consequences of their actions."_

_No… he can't mean that—_

_"__As a result of their foolish acts, two-hundred and thirteen players have been permanently removed from «Aincrad»… and the real world."_

_No, no, no! This can't be happening!_

"Two-hundred and thirteen players?" Yuuki repeated, her avatar's red eyes as wide as saucers.

"I don't believe it!" Klein shouted. "There's no way this could be real!"

Several windows opened up around him, displaying various news stations reporting the incident. _"As you can see, news organizations around the world are reporting what has happened here. Thus, you can safely assume that the danger of your «Nerve Gear» being removed is minimal at best. I hope this will console you as you work hard to clear the game."_

_He's insane! He wants us to clear all one-hundred floors?! We'd waste away before that could ever happen!_

_"__However, do take note of this,"_the robe said calmly_. __"There is no longer any method of respawning in the game. Once your HP reaches zero, your avatar will be permanently deleted. And of course, at the same time…_

_"__The «Nerve Gear» will destroy your brain."_

_No… this can't be happening! I must have died a hundred times during the first week of the beta _alone_!_

I looked to Klein and Yuuki, both of which looked too shocked to even talk. When I looked back to the robe, it began speaking once more.

_"__There is but one thing for you to do, should you wish to be free. You must clear the game._

_"__You are all currently on the first floor, «Aincrad's» lowest level. Make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor boss, and you will advance to the next level. If you defeat the final boss on the one-hundredth floor, you will clear the game."_

"Clear all one-hundred floors?!" Klein shouted, looking up at the robe with unbridled rage. "That's freaking impossible! Even the beta-testers never made it _near_ that high!"

_"__I have removed the pain-absorber,"_it said, causing my blood to run cold_. __"So that you will be more aware of when you are hit."_

_That bastard! He wants us to feel real pain in a freaking video game?!_

_"__And lastly, there is a gift from me in your item storage. Please feel free to open it."_

_Does he really expect people to check their inventories for a present _he_ gave us after all the crap he pulled?!_

I saw blue lights all around me, and soon both Klein and Yuuki disappeared into the light as well.

_I'm surrounded by idiots._

"What… the hell?" I heard Yuuki query in but a whisper, causing me to look towards her.

She looked essentially the same as her avatar, just with shorter, lustrous black hair that came down to her mid-back instead of her waist, stormy-gray eyes that held a sharp gaze, and a more average figure under her gray and black leather armor. In her hands, she held a small, rectangular mirror.

_But isn't that her real appearance? What the hell is going on?_

"Is that… Yuuki?" a familiar voice said from behind us.

Both Yuuki and I looked over at the person next to us. Upon closer inspection, the person had dark red hair, was at least a head taller than me, and had red stubble on his chin. In other words, I had no idea who he was.

_Wait a second…_ I thought, looking at a very familiar headband on his head. "Are you Klein?!"

"What's with the freaked-out reaction?" he queried, giving me a look before holding up his own mirror. "Of course I'm Klein, Yam— what the hell?! Why do I look like my real-life self?!"

_It's probably got something to do with the mirror,_ I thought, putting my left hand to my eye once more.

"Look at the thing you're holding. It's a mirror, and I think that's what did it," I explained my theory. "I didn't open my inventory, and I still have my avatar."

He looked at the mirror in his hands, seeing his own reflection… his _real body's_ reflection.

"But this is what I really look like! How did it get all this data on my body?!"

I sighed, beginning to explain. "The «Nerve Gear» has a high-density scanner built in that could easily create an exact copy of our faces, and as for your body structure, do you remember when the «Nerve Gear» had you calibrate it? That's probably how they did it."

"Oh… but why…? Why would he do this?!"

I pointed back to the robe. "I'm sure he'll tell us soon enough."

True to my words, the robe began talking once more as soon as I stopped, almost as if it had been waiting for me to finish.

_"I'm sure you're all wondering… why? Why would Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of «Sword Art Online» and the «Nerve Gear», do all of this?_

_"My goal has already been achieved. I wanted to watch over and control a world of my own design… as its god. That is why I made «Sword Art Online»."_

I clenched my teeth in rage. "Kayaba…!"

"_This ends the tutorial for the official launch of «Sword Art Online»,"_ the robe said, its image starting to flicker. _"Players…_

_"__I wish each and every one of you the best of luck."_

With that, the robe turned into red smoke, floating up through the red hexagons that covered the sky. Then, all of the hexagons disappeared, leaving the virtual sunset visible once more.

Silence. The entire area was so deathly silent that you could hear a pin drop from the edge of the «Plaza» with ease.

_This… is all real,_ I thought darkly, all traces of rage gone, only to be replaced with an eerie sense of calmness. _Kayaba Akihiko, the genius who created the «Nerve Gear» and a complete virtual world. I've met him, and he's not the type to lie. So I understand…_

I clenched my fists.

_Everything he said… was the truth!_

I looked up at Yuuki and Klein. Klein looked shocked, and Yuuki looked like she was experiencing a firestorm of emotions, the opposite of the impossible serenity I felt. I looked back down, gritting my teeth.

_If I die in the game… I die in real life!_

As soon as my thought finished, I heard the sound of a barrier being lifted. In an instant, both Yuuki and I reacted, each of us whispering one thing.

"As soon as the crowd freaks, we go."

It didn't take long for our requirement to be met. The crowd went into hysterics, creating enough chaos for us to slip away with Klein. And we did. I grabbed his hand, whispering, "Come with us."

I dragged Klein to the alleyways that led to the city's edge, with Yuuki following close behind. When we finally reached the alleys, we stopped running, and I took the initiative to speak.

"Listen. Yuuki and I are heading to the next village right now. Come with us.

"If what Kayaba Akihiko said was true, and I'm sure it is, then to survive, we've gotta train as much as we can. The resources within a VRMMO are limited. In other words, there's only so much money and EXP to go around.

"The fields surrounding the «Town of Beginnings» will be hunted clean in a matter of hours. To be efficient, we need to head for the next village and set up camp there ASAP. Yuuki and I know everything about all the areas from our days in the beta test, so even if we're all at level one, we can get you there safely."

Klein looked down, the expression on his face making me remember something he said earlier that day.

"_Well, I'm meeting up with some friends from another game, but if you guys want, I could introduce you. You can friend them, too!"_

"Guys, I'm sorry… my gaming friends and I spent days in line just to get SAO. I can't abandon them."

Yuuki gasped, catching on before Klein did. "They're probably still in the «Plaza», freaking out like everyone else! Yami, we have to help them! … Yami?"

She tried over and over to reach me, but I was lost in my own little world as I truly thought about the gravity of the situation for the first time.

_No way… any one of us could die at any time! How would I be able to protect all of Klein's friends when I'm busy worrying about myself and Yuuki? There's no way I could keep all of them alive, even if Yuuki can take care of herself!_

"Yami!" my ebony-haired friend shouted, snapping me out of my quickly devolving thoughts.

"What is it?" I asked her, my eyes still wide in fright.

"I said we have to help Klein and his friends," she repeated, her stormy-gray eyes pleading with me to agree. And yet, despite her pleading look, despite my heart screaming at me to go and help him…

I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

"I'm… I'm sorry…"

The silence that ensued was deafening to me. As much as I wanted to take it back, the damage was done. When I looked into Yuuki's eyes, I saw pure rage. When I diverted my eyes to Klein, he had an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Yami," he said, giving me a sad smile. "I won't ask for you two to help. I was a guild master in my last MMO, so I'll be able to use the info you guys gave me to get by."

"Well, I'm going to stay and help you," Yuuki told him. I was conflicted; part of me wanted to thank her for taking care of Klein for me, and part of me felt lonely, knowing that she wouldn't forgive me for a long time.

"Well, I should let you two go and find Klein's friends," I said, going into my inventory. "But before I go, I want you to see this, Klein."

I tapped the name of the only item in inventory, the «Hand Mirror», and then tapped the «Make into Object» button. Not a second later, the blue light engulfed me, lingering for a bit before finally subsiding. I looked at my reflection.

Snow-white hair that came down to my shoulder blades, with bangs that went just past my violet eyes. A well-toned figure, made from exorcising while under my overprotective brother's supervision.

"This is my real body," I said, giving a sad smile as I turned to leave. "Now that you've seen my real appearance, you'll recognize me the next time we meet."

_If there is a next time,_ I thought solemnly as I began walking.

"Hey, Yami!"

I turned around, only to be met with Klein's smiling face. "What is it?" I queried, hoping he didn't catch the sorrow in my voice.

"Stay alive, man. Stay alive until we meet again, and forever after that."

I masked my bitterness with a smile, giving him a thumbs-up. "Who do you think I am?"

With that, I turned back around, beginning to run to the end of the alley. Every part of my heart screamed at me to go back, to help him along with Yuuki. But my fear kept that part of me at bay, keeping me from turning back even once.

I remembered my brother earlier that day, who was being so nice to me. He was probably crying for me with my mother, planning to stay in whatever hospital room I had been moved to until visiting hours closed. They must have been hoping in vain that I would wake up, take off the «Nerve Gear» and be just fine.

I ran through the alleys, the city gates, the fields, not even stopping when I saw a mid-level «Wolf» ahead of me. It was undoubtedly at _least_ two levels higher than me, but I didn't care in the least.

_I've got this!_

I drew my left sword, putting it level with my head and parallel to the ground in preparation for a «Rage Spike».

_I can do this!_

When my skill finished charging, I released it.

_This world can't beat me!_

I disappeared, reappearing behind the «Wolf» with my blade jutted out in front of me. I didn't even stop when I heard the mob shatter and leave me a level-up window.

_I will survive!_

"HAAAAAAA!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**Whoa, this was long as hell! Sorry about that, I don't know what got into me!**

**In case some of you didn't notice, I kind of recycled a lot of lines from my older stories when they narrated through the tutorial. There really isn't much wiggle room there, so I found it easier to copy/paste and edit the lines from my older works instead of writing entirely new ones. This only really applied to the events leading up to and the actual tutorial, and the rest of it was mostly original.**

**Also, since I know some of the better reviewers will comment on this, I do indeed realize that, in the beginning, I did a lot more 'telling' instead of 'showing.' I know I have a problem with that, and I'm working on it, but right now, this is what I have. Sorry for that.**

**Lastly, I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes you may have seen. I just got a new laptop last weekend, and I'm still getting used to the keyboard layout, so I make a lot of typos (luckily, I'm still able to catch most of them, but it's hard). On top of that, this chapter is just so damn long that I couldn't make any final edits; it was just too overwhelming to even think about.**

**Anyway, it's time for that loathsome line that no one really reads, but I have to write anyway!**

**I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations, o anything/one I use from them. If I did, do you really think it would be anywhere near as famous as it is? The answer to that question is no, by the way.**

**I'll see you in the next chapter!**


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